Sunday, September 30, 2007

"The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show" late 1980's opening

Jon's earlier post about the Acme Hour makes me miss the classic Looney Tunes even more than I do already. I remember the days before anybody ever heard of Cartoon Network, and when the Looney Tunes and Merrie Meoldies shorts were scattered all over the television landscape. Different channels aired different cartoons. Ted Turner owned the pre-1948 library, Nickelodeon had most of the Road Runner cartoons, black and whites and 1960's shorts. Then there was ABC, who aired mostly Bugs Bunny and Tweety cartoons, hence the title of their Saturday Morning-only showcase, "The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show". Bugs n' Tweety was a staple on ABC for years, lasting from the mid 1980's until 2001. It was the only place to see many Tweety cartoons, the Sam Sheepdog/Ralph Wolf cartoons, and most of Chuck Jones' minor characters like Claude Cat and Charlie Dog.

Here is one of its earliest openings, from the late 80's, with the classic "This is It" title sequence from "The Bugs Bunny Show" reworked to add lights in the background and a top-hat and tuxedo look to the characters. It is included as an extra on one of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs...Volume 1 I believe.